The present invention relates generally to thermal imagers. More particularly, the invention relates to a system and method for providing control of a thermal imager at a remote user interface.
Thermal imaging cameras are used in a wide variety of applications, such as predictive maintenance in industrial facilities. Such cameras, often simply referred to as “thermal imagers,” include some type of infrared engine that converts infrared energy into electrical signals. For example, many thermal imagers include a detector array located in the focal plane of the camera optics. Infrared energy impinging the focal plane array (FPA) is read out for further processing on a pixel-by-pixel basis.
The “raw” data produced by the infrared engine is then converted through digital signal processing techniques to the visible image that can be displayed. In this regard, objects in the image are often depicted in colors corresponding to their relative temperature. Text and other graphics can also be overlaid on the thermal image, or provided in different zones of the display. Some thermal imagers are also capable of determining and displaying a temperature measurement for the object at the “cross hairs” of the thermal image. The processed images thus produced may be stored in local memory before subsequent download to a personal computer, such as using a serial data link.